Nursing Education and Doctoral Education
What is Doctor of Nursing Practice,Descent Trends in Doctoral Education,Task Force for Doctoral Education,Institutes Offering Doctoral Education.
What is Doctor of Nursing Practice
Doctor of nursing practice (DNP) is
defined by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) as the
terminal academic degree for nursing practice (AACN, 2006, p. 8).
Descent Trends in Doctoral Education
Enrollment of DNP students has
increased to 95% from 2006 to 2011 ( Eglehart 2013, p. 1937). Graduates of the
DNP program are expert clinicians who can assess evidence and translate it into
practice (Reed & Crawford, 2011, p. 37). The rapidly changing health care
system requires the DNP student to be educated in leadership, client-centered
care, quality improvement, multidisciplinary care provision, scientific
inquiry, and evidence-based care (AACN, 2006, p. 6).
The goal of DNP programs
is. to educate advanced practice nurses to be academic leaders and educators
who also maintain a clinical practice, thereby bridging the gap between nursing
education and nursing practice (DNP; Mason, Leavitt, & Chaffee, 2012). The
DNP graduate is expected to function as a leader, policy maker, clinical
expert, researcher, and educator (Mason et al., 2012).AACN delineated The Essentials for
Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice in 2006. There are 13
essentials: 8 apply to all DNPs and 5 define specialty roles of advanced
practice. One thousand post-baccalaureate clinical hours also are recommended
(AACN, 2006).
Task Force for Doctoral Education
In 2002, the AACN established a
task force to evaluate the practice focused doctorate degree to meet the need
for curriculum changes. In 2004, the AACN voted that the educational
requirement for advanced practice nurses be at the doctoral level by 2015. A
task force was established for creating guidelines for curriculum. and in 2006,
The Essentials for Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice was adopted
and nursing education began its transformation.
Institutes Offering Doctoral Education
AACN recommends that educational
institutions offering DNP programs should have faculty with doctoral
preparation once there is a larger population of DNP-prepared nurses
DNP-prepared faculty, through their practice experience, will exemplify rapid
translation of new knowledge into practice and demonstrate to students the
process of knowledge dissemination (AACN, 2006, p. 21). Nursing education will
continue to evolve as the health care system changes with the continued
implementation of the Affordable Health Care Act. DNP leaders need to continue
to pursue policies that remove practice barriers, and allow the DNP graduates
to practice to the full extent of their preparation (Glazer & Fitzpatrick,
2013).